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Canada’s largest private-sector union is rekindling an effort to unionize 1,300 hockey players in the country’s major junior leagues, two years after the last attempt fizzled in scandal.

Controversy is already engulfing the renewed effort, thanks to the involvement of Glenn Gumbley, a former union official who for the second time is involved with recruiting both players and the support of the National Hockey League Players Association, according to documents and interviews.

Unifor, created in 2013 from the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, has scheduled an organizing meeting Wednesday in Montreal to convince players to sign union cards and form a board of directors for the prospective United Hockey Players Association. Unifor also represents Toronto Star journalists.

With 60 teams across Canada and the U.S. composed of players generally between the ages of 16 and 20, major junior hockey is a business that generates millions of dollars in revenue. While teams under the umbrella of the Canadian Hockey League sell for as much as $10 million, union organizers and some hockey player agents argue few, if any, of the profits trickle down to the players.

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“These kids need a union because Canadians are blinded to the realities of junior hockey thanks to our love for the sport,” said Ron Pink, a Halifax lawyer who was hired in 2012 during the last attempt to organize players.

“The kids are beholden to owners who pay them a pittance. Take the Halifax Mooseheads, who draw 9,000 people a game at $15 a head. Then think of the sales of beer, jerseys, and paraphernalia. This is big money, but the kids are prepared to be treated this way because they are living for the dream.”

A leading figure behind the organizing drive is Gumbley, whose involvement in a similar effort in 2012, then called the Canadian Hockey League Players Association, failed amid allegations of misrepresentation and secrecy.

Gumbley appeared Monday morning in a Montreal court on a fraud charge stemming from a failed business venture with an ex-girlfriend, he confirmed in an interview Saturday. Prosecutor Marie Eve Cote said in an interview that Gumbley is charged with fraud over $5,000 and has a trial date of Jan. 7. Cote said details of the allegations will be disclosed at that time.

Jerry Dias, president of the 300,000-member Unifor, initially denied Gumbley was involved with the union drive when contacted by the Star.

“I don’t know him,” Dias said. “I’ve heard of him but there’s no reason for me to talk to him.”

That changed after the Star presented email correspondence and invoices obtained by the newspaper and a lengthy interview with Gumbley that establish Gumbley at the centre of Unifor’s campaign and a promise of at least $60,000 from the union if he can organize the new union in teams in Quebec’s major junior league.

Unifor is targeting the Quebec league first because union certification there only needs the support of 50 per cent plus one of the players. In Ontario, the organizing mechanism is more complex.

Gumbley, a self-described union organizing hand, has been recruiting former players from the Quebec junior league to try to coax current players to sign union cards. The records show that Gumbley has been paying the former players $1,000 apiece, expenses that have been covered by Unifor, documents show.

A June 13 invoice Gumbley submitted to Unifor, obtained by the Star, shows expenses of $8,000 for mileage, five cellphones, French translation, office expenses and meals.

“I was contracted to get the initial portion of the union organized and bring it to Unifor so they can take the reins from there,” Gumbley said in response to questions from the Star.

Gumbley said his relationship with Unifor and Dias began with a meeting in Montreal with top union executives on May 7.

That is confirmed by an April 17 email Dias sent to union executives on Unifor letterhead about scheduling a meeting in Montreal. A few weeks later, in mid-June, Gumbley said Dias called and told him to proceed with an organizing effort.

“He said the issues are real,” Gumbley said. “He said you’re obviously doing this for the right reason at this point. He said, go make something happen and if you’re successful, we’ll put weight behind it.”

After being presented with evidence of the email exchanges, Dias conceded that he does know Gumbley.

“I was not up front and honest when we talked last, I was evasive,” Dias said. “Can we start fresh? I’m the head of the organization and I’ll take the crap. That’s the way it has to be.”

Glenn Gumbley’s brother Randy, a former owner of the Streetsville Derbys franchise in the Ontario Hockey League, was involved in bitter legal battles with Hockey Canada after it scuttled his attempt to organize a non-sanctioned hockey tournament in France. The brothers have since been accused by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League of having a vendetta.

“Do I want to associate with the Gumbleys? No. Are we going to have a long-term association with the Gumbleys? No,” Dias said, saying he wasn’t aware of Gumbley’s court appearance Monday or the bad blood between the Gumbley brothers and the CHL.

“This was Glenn’s baby and he was looking for someone to take it on for him. The bottom line is it’s about the players. This is an issue that needs to get done.”

Gumbley and Dias say a union is needed to protect young players from exploitation.

Gumbley says wages for young players can amount to less than a dollar an hour as a result of weekly stipends that breach minimum wage legislation, educational scholarship funds that go unpaid to some players and a lack of insurance for import players.

Dias says a union would ensure players can access money for school after their playing career.

A Hockey Canada official declined to comment.

A National Hockey League Players Association spokesman confirmed that the union was contacted last week by Gumbley but that union officials have not met with him or Unifor executives.

CHL teams say they have an education fund for players, but some players have had problems accessing that cash, Dias said.

“Some of these kids who are injured aren’t taken care of, have a hard time accessing their education fund, and are filling arenas but not share in the millions of dollars in profit,” Dias said.

Jeff Hunt, owner of the Ottawa 67s, told the Star that players are given a year’s education scholarship for every year they play in the CHL. Teams typically give them the equivalent of a year’s tuition and books at the university that’s closest to their hometown. If players choose to attend a more expensive school, they are responsible for paying the difference.

David Branch, the CHL’s commissioner, told the Star in an interview that CHL players are “student athletes” and “we feel we provide them with the best in terms of supporting their needs.”

Branch said the CHL in 2013 spent about $5 million on tuition for former major junior players.

Players must attend school within 18 months of leaving their junior teams to access the education package, Branch said. The only other way that education package can be voided, he said, is if players play in the National Hockey League.

Branch also said estimates of the millions of dollars pouring into junior hockey are overblown.

“I’m not sure it’s as profitable as many people think, but we are not going to cry poor,” he said, adding that about 80 per cent of the CHL’s 60 teams play in communities with populations of 80,000 or less.

“We say about one-third of teams are profitable, one-third are close, and one-third are losing money,” Branch said.

The CHL hired a private investigator to probe Clarke’s identity because of concerns from players about “late-night calls, blocked phone numbers, no names being given” by a representative of the union.

In a twist that generated front page headlines and heated debate on sports radio, league officials alleged Clarke was actually Gumbley working behind the scenes.

A Star investigation found that Clarke, a sales representative for a Montreal high-tech firm at the time, did exist and was involved with the union drive.

In an interview, Gumbley acknowledged that he was the organizer of the union effort, that “it’s possible” others in the organization used Clarke’s email to represent the union and that Gumbley himself tried to keep his own involvement hidden because his family name raised red flags in hockey circles.

Georges Laraque, a former NHL player and the public face of the union at the time, eventually fled the scandalized effort. His involvement cost him his job as an analyst with a French-language sports channel.

As a penniless Canadian society if I want to add my 2 cents worth to any debate I must now round it down therefore I would be back to zero resulting in my opinion being now and forever worthless.

Players Union....again.

Ahhhh UNIFOR. Starting off on the right foot by lying. That's really going to help your cause.Doesn't surprise me that they are involved now. Their membership is dwindling and it's only a matter of time before they become irrelevant

That was exactly my thought when I read his comments. Union bosses are like politicians; lying is expected and forgiven.1300 players in the junior leagues ?If that number is correct right now, I wouldn't expect it to stay there very long, if the campaign to organize issuccessful. I'd expect teams to fold or to drop down a tier, rather than face the spectre of "work" stoppages, picket linesand skyrocketing expenses.Gotta give UNIFO credit though; they know sports fans always forgive strikes and lockouts, no matter what the cost.

"Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers;
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"
So sayeth Wayne

If and when the players unionize, the relationship between fans and players will polarize. Fans will no longer cut any slack for kids just learning the game. They will demand value for wages paid. The pressure on players to perform, play thru injuries or risk trades or release will ramp up big time. And there will always be a list of kids,willing to do anything to take their place. Is this what they want?